Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Friday
'tis the season?
i am not a scrooge- i know what the meaning behind the 'holiday season' is. anyone who reads anything i write on a regular basis knows how i feel about the christian bigotry in america- especially around their 'christmas.' but that's not what my musing is about this time- no, although i could tie it all together nicely i am sure :)
i have been talking to many of my blog buddies and 'real life' buddies about the holiday- and what i hear often- 'cmas is supposed to be about _____, but it isn't anymore'- and i guess i wonder why not? if we aren't happy with the way things are, why do we suppose that others are? why do we suppose that we have to continue in the same vein in order to keep folks happy- who probably feel the same way we do? and why are we so afraid to talk about this with people we are allegedly close to? it baffles me.
family is family- we should be able to put our ideas and feelings and thoughts out there safely- and if we can't- why are we 'celebrating' with these kind of toxic folks in the first place? we pick our friends- so if we can't have that conversation with them openly- why are they still our friends?
this is the last season we are going to have a 'traditional' cmas. the only reason we have any trappings of the 'traditions' i grew up with- we still enjoy them. the food, the drinks, the games, the small gifts, the decorations, the music- right at this moment we like them enough to keep them. we have scaled back though- and i know that next year- i won't be baking enough to send to people because i don't enjoy it enough to do it anymore. next year, i won't be doing many cards- because i don't enjoy it anymore. but we have had conversations with our friends and family. this is the last year we will do a gift exchange with my friend and her kids- because they will be grown and adults. i won't be making the journey to her home an hour away because quite frankly, we haven't enjoyed that for years. not so much because of her and the kids- but her extended family. i want to appreciate what our ancient forbears celebrated at this time of year- life, and getting through the dark days of winter. i want that stark simplicity and lack of complication that we seem determined to layer onto everything we do in modern life.
i have a feeling i will always like the food though :)
i have been talking to many of my blog buddies and 'real life' buddies about the holiday- and what i hear often- 'cmas is supposed to be about _____, but it isn't anymore'- and i guess i wonder why not? if we aren't happy with the way things are, why do we suppose that others are? why do we suppose that we have to continue in the same vein in order to keep folks happy- who probably feel the same way we do? and why are we so afraid to talk about this with people we are allegedly close to? it baffles me.
family is family- we should be able to put our ideas and feelings and thoughts out there safely- and if we can't- why are we 'celebrating' with these kind of toxic folks in the first place? we pick our friends- so if we can't have that conversation with them openly- why are they still our friends?
this is the last season we are going to have a 'traditional' cmas. the only reason we have any trappings of the 'traditions' i grew up with- we still enjoy them. the food, the drinks, the games, the small gifts, the decorations, the music- right at this moment we like them enough to keep them. we have scaled back though- and i know that next year- i won't be baking enough to send to people because i don't enjoy it enough to do it anymore. next year, i won't be doing many cards- because i don't enjoy it anymore. but we have had conversations with our friends and family. this is the last year we will do a gift exchange with my friend and her kids- because they will be grown and adults. i won't be making the journey to her home an hour away because quite frankly, we haven't enjoyed that for years. not so much because of her and the kids- but her extended family. i want to appreciate what our ancient forbears celebrated at this time of year- life, and getting through the dark days of winter. i want that stark simplicity and lack of complication that we seem determined to layer onto everything we do in modern life.
i have a feeling i will always like the food though :)
Tuesday
the war on christmas- and other things
so, i went to the office cmas party this past weekend- mr. betmo's not mine. my 'office party' is going to consist of me, mr. betmo, 2 cats and a bottle of bully hill sweet walter white. and it will be infinitely less tedious. and there are oddly enough- right wing christians in the financial industry. who would have thought that right winger christian capitalists would go into the financial industry? color me surprised :) wink wink. anyhoo- i generally behave myself because any reader familar with my posts here, there and over at my place- know i have little to no tolerance of christianity these days.
my biggest pet peeve is the fact that these asshats are so incurious about a religion that allegedly rules their lives. these people who believe that mere words and symbols negate an entire religion- so you can't even say 'xmas' let alone write it out. for the record, Xmas is not sacriligous. it doesn't mean "taking the christ out of christmas" it's greek for christ's sake.
"The use of "Χ," derived from Chi, the Greek alphabet initial, as an abbreviation for Christ (most commonly in the abbreviation "Χmas") is often misinterpreted as a modern secularization of the term. Thus understood, the centuries-old English word Χmas, is actually a shortened form of CHmas, which is, itself, a shortened form for Christmas. In fact, the use of "Χ" to represent the full word goes back to the earliest days of Greek Christianity."
but, don't try and educate these people- who generally get upset over being called on the fact that the holiday season encompasses chanukah, christmas, eid-ul-adha, and kwanzaa- not to mention celebrating the winter solstice. nope- they feel victimized by the fact that they aren't allowed to put creches on courthouse lawns and that private business have employees say 'happy holidays' instead of 'merry cmas'- even though you only ever hear cmas music piped out of every speaker in the northern hemisphere. mr. betmo has held firm on including other religions being represented in his office if there will be christmas displays- and i support him wholeheartedly. i am not anti-christmas. i am anti-christian. the two are mutually exclusive.
so, in the alleged season of peace while the christians sing 'silent night'- i wonder if they will truly listen to the words and read the words of their bible regarding 'the prince of peace?' nah. if they haven't in the last 2,000+ years- what would make me think that they would now?
my biggest pet peeve is the fact that these asshats are so incurious about a religion that allegedly rules their lives. these people who believe that mere words and symbols negate an entire religion- so you can't even say 'xmas' let alone write it out. for the record, Xmas is not sacriligous. it doesn't mean "taking the christ out of christmas" it's greek for christ's sake.
"The use of "Χ," derived from Chi, the Greek alphabet initial, as an abbreviation for Christ (most commonly in the abbreviation "Χmas") is often misinterpreted as a modern secularization of the term. Thus understood, the centuries-old English word Χmas, is actually a shortened form of CHmas, which is, itself, a shortened form for Christmas. In fact, the use of "Χ" to represent the full word goes back to the earliest days of Greek Christianity."
but, don't try and educate these people- who generally get upset over being called on the fact that the holiday season encompasses chanukah, christmas, eid-ul-adha, and kwanzaa- not to mention celebrating the winter solstice. nope- they feel victimized by the fact that they aren't allowed to put creches on courthouse lawns and that private business have employees say 'happy holidays' instead of 'merry cmas'- even though you only ever hear cmas music piped out of every speaker in the northern hemisphere. mr. betmo has held firm on including other religions being represented in his office if there will be christmas displays- and i support him wholeheartedly. i am not anti-christmas. i am anti-christian. the two are mutually exclusive.
so, in the alleged season of peace while the christians sing 'silent night'- i wonder if they will truly listen to the words and read the words of their bible regarding 'the prince of peace?' nah. if they haven't in the last 2,000+ years- what would make me think that they would now?
Saturday
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